Box Office results -- Ice Age: Continental Drift wins

Fox’s Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth film in the animated franchise, won the weekend with an estimated $46 million opening at the box office. The family-friendly flick bowed in 3,881 theaters and earned an $11, 853 per-theater average over the Friday-to-Sunday period. The film has already made roughly seven times that much in foreign territories. Compared to the previous installments in the Ice Age series, Continental Drift fell smack dab between the second and third film’s openings. And thanks to an bullish “A-” grade from CinemaScore, Continental Drift should get some strong word of mouth and hold up well with younger audiences and their parents.

In second place, Peter Parker & Co. spun $35 million over the weekend, a drop of 43.6 percent. If weekend estimates hold, the Sony tentpole will cross the $200 million mark, landing at $200.9 million. Psychologically at least, that’s an important threshold for The Amazing Spider-Man— especially with Bruce Wayne on deck at the multiplex.

Taking the bronze for the weekend was Ted — Universal’s Mark Wahlberg/Mila Kunis/talking bear comedy. The film scored a strong third week haul of $22.1 million, dropping just 31.2 percent — thanks in part to the fact that it added 47 playdates. Its total domestic take is now $158.9 million.

In fourth, Ice Age‘s main ‘toon challenger, Brave, stayed strong adding $10.6 million more to its quiver. Its four-week total is now $195.5 million, which means it should cross the $200 million mark by next weekend.

Rounding out the top 5 is Warner Bros.’ stripper comedy Magic Mike. The Channing Tatum flick bumped and grinded for $9 million in its third frame, edging out Oliver Stone’s Savages, and bringing its total to $91.8 million.

One notable performance bubbling under the top 10 was this summer’s indie critical darling, Fox Searchlight’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, which jumped from No. 21 to No. 16, after quadrupling the number of the theaters it was in. The film earned $775,000 on 81 screens for a terrific $9,568 per-screen average — second only to Ice Age in the top 20.